"Making your next move – the right move!"

Month: May 2017

If you’re a cycling enthusiast, a wonderful place to take residence is the City of Burlington. From the shoreline of Lake Ontario up to the foothills of the Escarpment, Burlington provides opportunities for cyclists like nowhere else in Halton Region. The Burlington Cycling Committee, established in 1990, oversees, advises and supports the sport in the city.

Numerous parks and trails are dotted all along Lake Ontario right across the city. Burloak Park, Paletta Park and Spencer Smith Park all provide the perfect place to get away for a relaxing ride on a hectic day. There is nothing more picturesque than a bike ride along Lakeshore Road in the springtime! To learn all about the parks and trails in Burlington that cater to bikers visit http://www.tourismburlington.com.

Downtown Burlington is a fantastic place to take the whole family for a joy ride on two wheels. Begin at Spencer Smith Park and hop on the Waterfront Trail, which takes cyclists all along the shoreline with a number of interesting sights along the way. Stop for a dip in the lake, grab some fish and chips at Hutch’s or relax at Beachway Park.

On the outskirts of the city, cyclists will discover an entire network of conservation areas, beaches and heritage sites. Mountain bikers and cyclists can also be found circling Halton Conservation’s Kelso Park, well known for its picturesque trails.

As the Burlington Cycling Committee nears its 30-year anniversary, it’s a great time to get out and discover Burlington by bike!

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June is almost here and it won’t be long before we’re enjoying our morning coffee on the front porch or catching some rays on our backyard patios! At this early stage in the season, trees and shrubs are still budding, your gardens are rather barren and you might be craving a little colour! Luckily, there are so many ways that you can add some serious style to your patio, porch, decks and backyards without spending a fortune!

For some instant green foliage, bring your indoor plants outside. May is usually a safe time to start acclimating plants to the outdoors for the summer season but be sure to bring them inside at night if it’s still cool, and don’t place them in direct sunlight for more than a few hours. Strategically place plants around the seating area, just as you would indoors.

Using fabric is a wonderful way to make an outdoor space homier. Search clearance bins for colourful throw pillows you won’t mind tossing after the summer season and find a couple outdoor rugs to really bring the space together. Place a larger, neutral-coloured rug down first, underneath your patio furniture and place a smaller, more vibrant area rug centred on top of the first to add a little pizzazz. If your space is very exposed, you can create privacy with a screen, some old shutters or a few curtain panels. Bed, Bath and Beyond sells outdoor curtains in a variety of pretty patterns that are built to withstand the elements.

A hot trend in 2017 is the vertical garden. Ideal for backyards where space is a commodity, a vertical garden will become a gorgeous focal point in your outdoor space while providing privacy, visual interest and even food! You can DIY the project using old pallets, chicken wire, wooden boxes, an old dresser, even old, plastic pop bottles! Check Pinterest for ideas and step-by-step instructions. Love to cook? Plant herbs in your vertical garden and enjoy fresh, flavourful dishes all summer long.

For the finishing touches on your outdoor space, hang some artwork or a mirror on outside walls, add some mood lighting or place a few sturdy candle holders on tables.

Jennifer Birch – Realtor

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Renting to own, also known as a lease option, is another choice in today’s real estate market. Traditionally, if you were looking to purchase a home, you would save 20 percent of a home’s cost for a down payment and get a mortgage up front from a financial institution.

That option may be challenging if you have a bruised credit history, or you don’t have an adequate down payment, if you are new immigrants with little or no credit history or are self-employed.

Renting to own means you can save for a down payment while actually living in the house you want to buy. Usually, a portion of the monthly rent is set aside toward the down payment and there is often a significant deposit as well. At the end of two to four years, the down payment is collected and the renters apply for a mortgage.

Although it sounds like a win-win, there are pitfalls to watch for. Your monthly rental costs, due to the down payment portion, will usually be substantially higher than a regular rental. If you’re a renter in this kind of arrangement and you must break the agreement, you risk losing your deposit and the monthly savings in order to walk away. That could mean the loss of tens of thousands of dollars. If you still don’t qualify for a mortgage at the end of the rental period, you may have to walk away from the home and from your money too. If you’re late on a monthly payment, you could be evicted, forfeiting your cash.

As with any contract that involves large amounts of money, make sure you obtain legal counsel before you sign on the dotted line. Make sure your investment is protected and that there is a clause for breaking the rental agreement that won’t break you!

Jennifer Birch – Realtor

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With Ontario seeing its fair share of rainfall this spring, it’s never too late to take some extra measures to protect your home, especially those who reside in flood-prone areas. If this is your first spring in a new home, ask around the neighbourhood to find out if the area has ever had issues with flooding during heavy spring rainfalls. Occasionally, improper home maintenance may be the culprit in a basement flood, so take the proper steps to prevent an expensive mess in your home!

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Ontario’s housing market has seen very dynamic growth in recent years, with prices in the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Golden Horseshoe rising significantly. This has been supported by economic fundamentals, including a growing population, rising employment, higher incomes and very low borrowing costs. In an effort to address the situation, Ontario’s Fair Housing Plan was introduced last month by the Ministry of Finance, offering a comprehensive package of measures to help more people find affordable homes and to bring stability to the real estate market. The plan includes actions to address demand for housing, protect renters, increase housing supply and protect homebuyers.

Actions included in the plan include:

• Legislation that, if passed, would implement a new 15-per-cent Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST) on the price of homes in the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) purchased by individuals who are not citizens or permanent residents of Canada or by foreign corporations.

• Expanding rent control to all private rental units in Ontario, including those built after 1991. This will ensure increases in rental costs can only rise at the rate posted in the annual provincial rent increase guideline.

• Legislation that would, if passed, empower the City of Toronto, and potentially other interested municipalities, to introduce a vacant homes property tax to encourage property owners to sell unoccupied units or rent them out, to address concerns about residential units potentially being left vacant by speculators.

• Establishing a housing advisory group which will meet quarterly to provide the government with ongoing advice about the state of the housing market and discuss the impact of the measures in the Fair Housing Plan and any additional steps that are needed.